rare animals discovered by police raid in Kuala Lumpur

[Chlidonias]

AFP: Malaysian police stumble upon illegal 'zoo'

Malaysian police stumbled upon a massive haul of endangered wildlife including a pair of valuable birds of paradise as they raided a warehouse in search of stolen cars, reports said Wednesday.

They found thousands of rare birds, leopard cats and albino pygmy monkeys, as well as domestic cats believed to be used to cross-breed with wild species to produce exotic offspring, the Star daily said.

The daily valued the pair of birds of paradise, prized for their skin and feathers and believed to bring good fortune, at 1.0 million ringgit (312,000 dollars).

More than 20 species of protected wildlife were found in the "mini zoo" hidden in the warehouse in the capital's suburbs, said Kuala Lumpur Wildlife Department deputy director Celescoriano Razond.

"We thank the police for rescuing the animals and will work closely with them to bring the criminals to justice," he said, according to the Star.

Police arrested two men in the raid, which also netted 42 stolen vehicles, but said they were believed to be merely workers, and they were still looking for the syndicate behind the operation.

in the link to the above report there is a photo of two Paradisaea but it may be a stock photo. In the following link are photos from the actual raid, included in which is a photo of two twelve-wired birds of paradise Seleucidis melanoleuca.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/malaysia-raid-for-stolen-570152.html

This earlier report says 30 birds of paradise were recovered in the raid http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=513300

 

[jwer]

They seem to be two males, and not a pair? And $ 312.000 for two males of the twelve-wired bird of paradise... seriously?

Anyone any idea where these animals will end up? Jurong for the birds (hopefully)?

 

[Chlidonias]

they are indeed two males. There is a bird park in Kuala Lumpur as well as the zoo, so I would imagine they would go there rather than Singapore.

There are some discrepancies in reports, the one quoted above says "thousands" of birds and animals, but another I read says "700" (possibly only referring to birds).

I am a little intrigued by the "albino pygmy monkeys" in the report